Welcome to the Wikispace of the PRME Working Group on Gender Equality!

Background

In March 2010, the UN Global Compact and UNIFEM (now part of UN Women) launched the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The goal of WEPs is to “help the private sector focus on key elements integral to promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.”[3] In response to this new initiative, in January 2011 the PRME Secretariat hosted a Human Rights Webinar focused on the WEPs. The goal of the webinar was to consider the relevance of WEPs for the academic community and highlight the importance of embedding gender into business school curriculum around the world. During the webinar, participants expressed interest in the development of a PRME working group on gender equality (or inequality) in order to integrate the WEPs into the work of PRME. Discussions were held following the webinar, the PRME Working Group on Gender Equality was launched in October 2011, and the first webinar was held on 18 November.

Mission

The PRME Working Group on Gender Equality brings together academics and employers in order to provide support and resources for integrating gender issues and awareness into management education, business school curricula, and related research to facilitate respect and support for the WEPs and PRME.

Goals

To accomplish its mission, the Working Group on Gender Equality has established the following goals:

Develop an interdisciplinary network of academics employers and other stakeholders who have integrated, or who are interested in integrating, gender issues into business school curricula, research and other areas where management education takes place. This network will include faculty in the arts & sciences (e.g., anthropologists, sociologists, business historians) as well as those in business disciplines.

Facilitate a global repository of resources for integrating gender into management education and research.

Advocate for new research and the dissemination of knowledge on the integration of gender issues into management education.

Conduct analysis of the Global Compact companies and link them as appropriate with the PRME community for research and case study creation.

Work with other PRME partners and working groups to encourage the integration of gender issues into their activities.

Promote awareness and facilitate the integration of gender issues into management education and research, in alignment with the goals of the WEPs.

One of the specific outcomes of the Working Group will be the creation of a central, easily accessible repository of links and information, e.g., syllabi, case studies, journal articles and ongoing research, on the integration of gender issues into management education. The PRME Secretariat has encouraged the Working Group to use the May 2012 PRME Global Forum as an opportunity to promote the work of the group, share resources and materials identified throughout its first year, and highlight critical gaps that should be addressed going forward.